Marking apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus comprising a marking apparatus including an extendable-retractable marking means for placing a mark on a moving web and a movable shutter means for sealing the retracted marking means from atmospheric air about the marking apparatus. The frame is rotatable to permit variance in the width of the mark placed on the web.

United States Patent 1191 Will 1 51 Jan. 9,1973

54] MARKING APPARATUS 2,823,633 2/1958 Meier et al. ..1111/244 x 1 3,545,403 12/1970 Beers ..118/264 X [75] lnvenmr' Eugen 2,732,824 1/1956 Brown ..118/268 [73] Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufactur- 1,666,039 4/1928 Baynard ..118/243 ing Company, St. Paul, Minn. Primary Examinerlohn P. McIntosh l 1 l 70 [22] ed July 9 Attorney-Kinney, Alexander, Sell, Steldt & Delahunt [21] Appl. No.: 55,478

[57] ABSTRACT [52] 11.8. C1. ..118/8, 118/241, 118/264 Apparatus comprising a marking apparatus including [5 l] 111i. Cl. ..B05c 1/16, B056 11/16 an extendableqetractable marking means for placing a [58] Field of Search ..118/264, 268,243,241, 3; mark on a moving web and a movable Shutter means 401/107 60 for sealing the retracted marking means from at- References Cited mospheric air about the marking apparatus. The frame is rotatable to permit variance in the width of the mark placed on the web.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Pmmmm 9 ma cab/09,191

FIG. 3

44 m I FIG. 2 L N W' may, W j zZ/MfafiQ/M ATTORNEYS MARKING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION On-the-fly inspection of a continuously running web requires an apparatus to periodically mark the surface of the moving web to permit subsequentlocation of the detected fault in the web. Such a marking apparatus must be capable of unfailing marking of the web, when activated, to ensure a mark appears at each detected fault. One prior art device utilizes-a consumable rod, in particular a crayon, to ensure that upon activation of the device a corresponding mark will be placed on the web. This type of device requires continual advancement of the crayon, as the same is consumed, and continual maintenance of replacing the consumed crayons. Other web markers have utilized a fluid like medium, such as an ink or dye, for marking the web and have thus eliminated the maintenance problem of periodical replacement of crayons; however, such web markers are not capable of providing unfailing marking of the web due to the problem of the fluid'drying and hardening within the porous applicator which prevents subsequent marking of the web. The need is for a marking apparatus utilizing a fluid like medium for marking the web, to eliminate the continual replacement problem of a crayon type marking device, and for an apparatus to inhibit drying of the marking fluid within the porous applicator to ensure unfailing marking of the engaged web. 1

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a marking apparatus having particular utility for placing a mark on a body, such as a web, moving along a path. The marking apparatus includes a frame and marking means movably mounted to the frame for movement toward the web to engage and apply a mark to the web. A first actuation means, supported by the frame and connected to the marking means, is utilized for moving the marking means from a retracted position in the housing to an extended position to contact and mark the web. A shutter means located adjacent to the marking means in a sealing position seals'the retracted marking means from atmospheric air about the marking apparatus to retain the marking capability of the marking means. A second actuation means moves the shutter means from the sealing position to a clearance position to permit movement of the marking means into engagement with the web. t

Thus, the marking apparatus of the present disclosure eliminates the maintenance problem of replacing consumable crayons by utilizing an ink like medium for marking the moving web. The marking apparatusalso utilizes shutter means for sealing the retracted marking means to retain the marking capability of the marking means by restricting the atmospheric air surrounding the marking apparatus from drying the ink like medium within the porous applicator. The restriction of ink drying within the porous applicator allows periodical use of the marking apparatus while ensuring marking each time the marker engages the moving web.

A moving web commonly includes transverse vibrational movement, or fluttering, of the web which as shown in the drawing would constitute movement toward and away from the marking apparatus. The marking apparatus of the present disclosure includes resilient means for biasing the engaged porous applicator toward the web to ensure uninterrupted marking of a fluttering web and to compensate for wearing of the applicator.

Other advantages of this invention willbe readily appreciated as the same-becomes more fully-understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing in which like numerals designate like parts throughout the figures and wherein: 7

FIG. 1 is an isometric view illustrating a marking apparatus placing determinate marks on a moving web and represents one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the marking apparatus taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken approximately along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a marking apparatus generally designated by the reference numeral 10. As used throughout this application in the interest of maintaining consistent orientation of the various com ponents, the portion of the apparatus to the left of a person viewing FIG. 1 will be the front" or forward" portion of the apparatus and the portion of the apparatus opposite thereto will be the rear or rearward portion of the apparatus. The moving web will thus move from front to rear, as represented by arrow 12, along a predetermined path and the marking means 25 will move toward and away from the path to engage and mark the web, and retract into an enclosed housing. This orientation does not limit the utility of the marking apparatus and is only in the interest of brevity of description in locating the relative positions of the various components of the marking apparatus.

The marking apparatus 10, as more clearly shown in FIG. 2, has particular utility for placing a mark 14 on a body moving along a path (such'as a moving web 15) and includes a frame 20 adapted to be supported adjacent to the path of the moving web 15 and marking means 25 movably mounted to'the frame 20 for movement between a retracted position away from the moving web 15 to an extended position engaging the web 15. The frame 20, pivotably secured to the rod 21 to permit rotation of the frame 20 for altering the width of the mark 14 placed on the web 15 (by rotating a felt pad-45 about the rod 21), includes a chamber or bore 22 for receiving the marking means 25.

The marking means 25 includes a piston 26 within the bore 22, support means 36 for supporting a porous means 44 and resilient means 47 connected to a piston 26 and support means 36 for biasing the porous means 44 toward the web 15. O-rings 27 are used to afford a sliding fluid seal between the piston 26'and the bore 22 to prevent the ink 66 from escaping past the piston 26 to the outside of the apparatus 10. A first actuation means 50, which is supported by the frame 20 and connected to the marking means 25 for moving the marking means 25 between the retracted and extended positions, includes a first air cylinder 51 bolted to the frame 20 by cap screws 23 and secured to the piston 26 by a guide rod 28. The guide rod 28 slides within guide slots 24 in the frame 20 (see FIG. 1) to maintain rotational orientation of the piston 26. The piston 26 has an external groove defining an ink cavity 29 and an internal bore 30 for receiving the resilient means 47 (illustrated as coiled spring 48) and the support means 36. The support means 36 is illustrated as a tubular member 37 with a lower cavity 38 for receiving the porous means 44 in the form of porous felt pad 45 and an upper cavity 39 for receiving ink 66 from the ink cavity 29 through an aperture 40. The tubular member 37 also includes a guide slot 41 to provide rotational orientation between the member 37 and the piston 26 by a set screw 17 threadly secured to piston 26 and extending into the guide slot 41.

'A rigidly fixed back-up plate 18 prevents the web 15 from moving transversely away from the extended marking means 25 to maintain contact between the felt pad 45 and the web 15. However, the web 15 may move transversely toward the marking means 25 (web flutter) which could cause unnecessary forces on the felt pad 45 and the web 15. The slot 41 permits transverse movement between the member 37 and the piston 26 to allow the felt pad 45 to follow the transverse movement of the fluttering web 15 without producing unnecessary forces on the marker 45.

An ink supply means 65 includes a pressurized storage container (not shown) of ink 66 and an electric solenoid valve (not shown) to control the pressurized flow of ink 66 through a conduit 67 to the ink cavity 29. A control means 55 controls the opening and closing of the electric solenoid valve.

The retraction of the marking means 25 within the bore 22 of the frame 20, as shown in FIG. 2, defines an evaporationcontrol cavity 68 about the pad 45. The cavity 68 is sealed from atmospheric air surrounding the apparatus by a shutter means 70 located at an end of the frame adjacent to the marking means 25. The shutter means 70 includes a movable shutter plate 71, having a clearance aperture 72 therein, and an O- ring 73 to additionally seal between the shutter plate 71 and the frame 20. A second actuation means 60, which is supported by the frame 20 and connected to the shutter means, 70 for moving the shutter plate 71 between the sealing position (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) and the clearance position, includes a second air cylinder 61 secured to the frame 20 and a pin 62 securing a cylinder rod 63 to the shutter plate 71.

In operation, an operator will be visually inspecting the moving-web l5 and when a flaw is detected the operator will push the necessary control button on the control means 55 to begin operation of the marking apparatus 10. The control means 55 permits the air cylinder 61 to move the shutter plate 71 to the clearance position, wherein the clearance aperture will be adjacent and aligned with the felt pad 45, and after a short time delay, provided by time delay means within the control means 55, the air cylinder 51 is activated to move the felt pad 45through the aperture 72 to engage the web 15. The back-up plate 18 provides support for the pad 45 and minimizes the transverse fluttering of the web 15. Any movement or fluttering of the web between the plate 18 and the apparatus 10 is compen sated for by movement of the tubular member 37 (and the corresponding felt pad 45) against the spring 48.

The spring 48 also compensates for wearing of the pad 45. Thus when extended, the pad 45 is maintained in continual contact with the moving web '15. Upon activation of the air cylinder 51,; the control means 55 opens the electric solenoid valve (not shown) to permit the pressurized ink 66 to flow into the ink cavity 29, through aperture 40, through the felt pad 45 and onto the web 15. When the detected flaw has ended, the

operator will release the control button, theink flow is stopped and the air cylinder 51 retracts the marking means 25 to locate the pad 45 within the evaporation control cavity 68. Shortly after retraction of the marking means 25, the air cylinder 61 returns the shutter plate to the sealing position (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) and the pad 45 will be sealed within the cavity 68 to control and essentially prevent the ink 66 from evaporating. By controlling the evaporation of the ink 66 within the pad 45, the pad 45 will remain moist and ready to be again used to place a mark on the moving web 15. A flaw detection device could be utilized for controlling the operation of the marking apparatus 10 to the exclusion of an operator.

The marking end of the felt pad 45 is rectangular in cross-section. Thus, rotational movement of the frame 20 about rod 21 permits the width of the mark 14 placed on the web 15 to be correspondingly changed.

While the preferred embodiment has been described, it is appreciated that this is for the purpose of illustration and that additional embodiments could-be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. For example, the ink like medium could be an ink 66, a dye, or other fluid having similar properties as an ink 66. Also, the air cylinders 51 and 61 could be replaced with electrical solenoids.

What I claim is: v

1. An apparatus useful for wiping a marking fluid on a body moved along a path, comprising:

a frame adapted to be supported adjacent the path of a said moving body, said frame being formed with a chamber communicating with the outside of said frame through an opening; marking means including a. porous pad having a rectangular end contact surface and being mounted on said frame for movement between a retracted position within said chamber to define an evaporation control cavity about said porous pad, and a position extended from said chamber through said opening to afford engagement of said contact surface with a said moving body to wipe across the moving body, fluid supply means for supplying marking fluidto said porous pad to mark the engaged moving body, and means for affording rotational movement of said porous pad about an axis normal to said contact surface to change the width ofa mark made upon a said moving body;

first actuation means supported by said frame and connected to said marking means for moving said porous pad between said retracted and extended positions;

shutter means mounted adjacent said opening of said chamber for movement between a clearance position for permitting movement of said porous pad to said extended position, and a sealing position for enclosing said porous pad within said chamber when said marking means is in the retracted position, said shutter means including means for'sealing said evaporation control cavity when said shutter means is in the sealing position to restrict evaporation of said marking fluid from said porous pad; and

second actuation means supported by said frame and connected to said shutter means for moving said shutter means between said sealing and clearance positions.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said apparatus further includes:

control means for sequentially operating said first and second actuation means in response to a predetermined signal to move said shutter to said clearance position and said marking means to said extended position, and for moving said marking means to said retracted position and said shutter to said closed position upon cessation of said signal.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said fluid supply means is operated by said control means to supply marking fluid to said porous pad only when said control means is receiving said predetermined signal.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said marking means includes:

a support for supporting said porous pad and mounted on said frame for movement between a first position to place said support and said porous pad in said retracted position within said chamber, and a second position extending through said opening to place said porous pad in said extended position;

means for mounting said porous pad on said support for movement from said extended position toward said support; and

means for biasing said porous pad to said extended position relative to said support.

5. A mechanism for marking a continuously moving web, said mechanism comprising in combination:

a conveyor adapted for continuously moving a said web along a predetermined path; and

a marking means for wiping a marking fluid along selected lengths of said web moving along said path, said marking means comprising:

a frame mounted adjacent said conveyor along said path, said frame being formed with a chamber communicating with the outside of said frame through an opening;

marking means including a porous pad having a contact surface and being mounted on said frame for movement between a retracted position within said chamber to define an evaporation control cavity about said'porous pad, and a position extended from said chamber through said opening to afford engagement of said'contact surface to wipe along the moving web, and fluid supply means for supplying marking fluid to said porous member to mark the engaged web; 7

first actuation means supported by said frame and connected to said marking means for moving said porous pad between said retracted and extended positions;

shutter means mounted adjacent said chamber opening for movement between a clearance position for permitting movement of said porous pad to said extended position through said opening, and a sealing position over said opening for enclosing said porous pad within said chamber when said marking means is in the retracted position, said shutter means including means. for sealing said evaporation control cavity when said shutter means is in the sealing position to restrict evaporation of said marking fluid from said porous pad;

second actuation means supported by said frame and connnected to said shutter means for moving said shutter means between said sealing and clearance positions;

control means for sequentially operating said first and second actuation means in response to a predetermined signal to move said shutter to said clearance position and said marking means to said extended position, and for moving said marking means to said retracted position and said shutter to said closed position upon cessation of said signal; and

signal means adapted for manual activation for providing said predetermined signal for said control means.

6. A mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said marking means includes:

a support for supporting said porous pad and mounted on said frame for movement between a first position to place said support and said porous pad in said retracted position within said chamber, and a second position extending through said opening to place said porous pad in said extended position;

means for mounting said porous pad on said support for movement from said extended position toward said support; and

means for biasing said porous pad to said extended position relative to said support.

7. A mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said fluid supply means is operated by said control means to supply marking fluid to said porous pad only during activation of said signal means.

8. A mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said porous pad has a rectangular contact surface, and said frame is mounted to afford rotational movement of said porous pad about an axis normal to said contact surface to change the width ofa mark made upon a said moving web. 

1. An apparatus useful for wiping a marking fluid on a body moved along a path, comprising: a frame adapted to be supported adjacent the path of a said moving body, said frame being formed with a chamber communicating with the outside of said frame through an opening; marking means including a porous pad having a rectangular end contact surface and being mounted on said frame for movement between a retracted position within said chamber to define an evaporation control cavity about said porous pad, and a position extended from said chamber through said opening to afford engagement of said contact surface with a said moving body to wipe across the moving body, fluid supply means for supplying marking fluid to said porous pad to mark the engaged moving body, and means for affording rotational movement of said porous pad about an axis normal to said contact surface to change the width of a mark made upon a said moving body; first actuation means supported by said frame and connected to said marking means for moving said porous pad between said retracted and extended positions; shutter means mounted adjacent said opening of said chamber for movement between a clearance position for permitting movement of said porous pad to said extended position, and a sealing position for enclosing said porous pad within said chamber when said marking means is in the retracted position, said shutter means including means for sealing said evaporation control cavity when said shutter means is in the sealing position to restrict evaporation of said marking fluid from said porous pad; and second actuation means supported by said frame and connected to said shutter means for moving said shutter means between said sealing and clearance positions.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said apparatus further includes: control means for sequentially operating said first and second actuation means in response to a predetermined signal to move said shutter to said clearance position and said marking means to said extended position, and for moving said marking means to said retracted position and said shutter to said closed position upon cessation of said signal.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said fluid supply means is operated by said control means to supply marking fluid to said porous pad only when said control means is receiving said predetermined signal.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said marking means includes: a support for supporting said porous pad and mounted on said frame for movement between a first position to place said support and said porous pad in said retracted position within said chamber, and a second position extending through said opening to place said porous pad in said extended position; means for mounting said porous pad on said support for movement from said extended position toward said support; and means for biasing said porous pad to said extended position relative to said support.
 5. A mechanism for marking a continuously moving web, said mechanism comprising in combination: a conveyor adapted for continuously moving a said web along a predetermined path; and a marking means for wiping a marking fluid along selected lengths of said web moving along said path, said marking means comprising: a frame mounted adjacent said cOnveyor along said path, said frame being formed with a chamber communicating with the outside of said frame through an opening; marking means including a porous pad having a contact surface and being mounted on said frame for movement between a retracted position within said chamber to define an evaporation control cavity about said porous pad, and a position extended from said chamber through said opening to afford engagement of said contact surface to wipe along the moving web, and fluid supply means for supplying marking fluid to said porous member to mark the engaged web; first actuation means supported by said frame and connected to said marking means for moving said porous pad between said retracted and extended positions; shutter means mounted adjacent said chamber opening for movement between a clearance position for permitting movement of said porous pad to said extended position through said opening, and a sealing position over said opening for enclosing said porous pad within said chamber when said marking means is in the retracted position, said shutter means including means for sealing said evaporation control cavity when said shutter means is in the sealing position to restrict evaporation of said marking fluid from said porous pad; second actuation means supported by said frame and connnected to said shutter means for moving said shutter means between said sealing and clearance positions; control means for sequentially operating said first and second actuation means in response to a predetermined signal to move said shutter to said clearance position and said marking means to said extended position, and for moving said marking means to said retracted position and said shutter to said closed position upon cessation of said signal; and signal means adapted for manual activation for providing said predetermined signal for said control means.
 6. A mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said marking means includes: a support for supporting said porous pad and mounted on said frame for movement between a first position to place said support and said porous pad in said retracted position within said chamber, and a second position extending through said opening to place said porous pad in said extended position; means for mounting said porous pad on said support for movement from said extended position toward said support; and means for biasing said porous pad to said extended position relative to said support.
 7. A mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said fluid supply means is operated by said control means to supply marking fluid to said porous pad only during activation of said signal means.
 8. A mechanism according to claim 5 wherein said porous pad has a rectangular contact surface, and said frame is mounted to afford rotational movement of said porous pad about an axis normal to said contact surface to change the width of a mark made upon a said moving web. 